Top 10 MIDI Keyboards 2021 – Unlock Your Flow
Top 10 MIDI Keyboards 2021 A MIDI Keyboard is a useful device that allows music producers to intuitively input chords, melodies, and even drums into their DAW. They usually come with velocity-sensitive keys, pads, and knobs to help provide that human feel to your electronic tracks. This article rounds up the top 10 MIDI keyboards of 2021 and will help inform you about what to consider before purchasing one. Why Do I Need A MIDI Keyboard? Have you ever seen an instrumentalist ‘lose’ themselves in the music they are creating? Eyes closed, head pointed to the sky, and absolutely surrendered to the piano, guitar, or drums that they’re playing? (Source: Tash Sultana, Image by Jim Bennet/FilmMagic May 2020) This is the feeling that we musicians like to call “the flow state” – and it’s one that music producers can find hard to reach behind the clickity-clack of a mouse …
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Top 10 Studio Headphones 2021 – A Producer’s Best Friend
Top 10 Studio Headphones 2021 If you’re just getting started on your music production journey – you might be listening to your mix on desktop speakers, cheap earphones, or even laptop speakers. However, after you’ve picked the best laptop to produce music with – the next purchase to consider is the right pair of headphones for you. su_divider top=”no” size=”1″ Why Are Studio Headphones Important? The best studio headphones help inform you how the track you’re working on in your DAW truly sounds (i.e flat sound.) Laptop speakers are simply too small to accurately recreate bass sounds below 200 Hz. Consumer speakers or headphones are usually bass boosted or colour the sound in different ways to entertain the listener. The best studio headphones, on the other hand: Recreate the entire frequency range that we can hear (20 Hz to 20,000 Hz) Accurately represent the frequency response of your track – …
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Student Spotlight – Nolo Grace | Debut Single “Wake Up” – feat. Sean Kingston
Nolo Grace shares inside her process to create her debut single “Wake Up” feat. Sean Kingston, creating during lockdown, and leaving the corporate world behind. su_divider top=”no” size=”1″ Watch our full Interview Watch our full interview with Nolo Grace discussing her debut single “Wake Up” – feat. Sean Kingston Listen to “Wake Up” here on Spotify. su_divider top=”no” size=”1″ About Nolo Grace Nolo Grace is a Korean-American singer/songwriter/producer making her debut with “Wake Up,” featuring pop artist Sean Kingston ( known for his Billboard Hot 100 song “Beautiful Girls” and other hit songs like “Fire Burning” and “Eenie Meanie.”) Nolo Grace charted an unconventional path into music. After building a business career as a successful corporate executive in New York City, she decided to leave that behind and traveled the world as a digital nomad before moving to Los Angeles in 2017. As she discovered a path of her …
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Non-Fungible Tokens – Hype, Flaws, and Innovation
(Cover Image derived from Consensual Hallucinations by crypto artist Serwah Attafuah) A digital certificate for intellectual property is sweeping the music world. Known as a Non-Fungible Token, or an NFT, these cryptographically verified digital collectibles allow artists to store unchangeable versions of their music/art on the blockchain. This article explores the hype, the flaws, and the innovation of this new technology and what it means for you as a producer, artist, or musician. su_divider top=”no” size=”1″ What is Blockchain technology? At this point, we have all heard about Bitcoin. But what many don’t know is that it is the technology behind Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies that holds the power and potential to revolutionize all aspects of our digital exchanges. su_quote cite=”Shermin Voshmgir (Author of Token Economy)”If we assume that the WWW has revolutionized information and the Web 2 revolutionizes interactions, then Web3 has the potential to revolutionize agreements and value …
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All About Max for Live Packs | PitchLoop 89
All About Max for Live Packs | PitchLoop 89 Created in collaboration with Robert Henke, this Ableton 11 Max for Live device is based on an early digital effects processor. The outcome is jittery glitch effects, delayed digital shimmers, and outlandish vibrato. Watch guest host Lillian Frances breakdown this unique device for sound design and beat making. Video Tutorial su_youtube_advanced url=”https://youtu.be/CeLxElsRTPc” width=”400″ height=”200″ autohide=”yes” rel=”no” fs=”no” modestbranding=”yes” For more on Max for Live Packs check out our All About Max for Live Packs Playlist. Subscribe for more awesome tutorials! divider style=”clear” About Lillian Frances Lillian Frances is a sonic collager hailing from Sacramento, CA. Frances attended Beat Lab in 2015 and 2019 and has since taught Ableton courses at The Library of MusicLandria in Sacramento. Her unique alt-pop style has been compared to Lorde, Sylvan Esso, and Billie Eilish. Her 2018 EP, Timeism, was praised by NPR’s Heavy …
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Student Spotlight – Interview with Beat Lab Alumna Madame Gandhi
Student Spotlight – Interview with Beat Lab Alumna Madame Gandhi This month, we had the honor of sitting down with talented musician, drummer, and producer Kiran Gandhi, aka Madame Gandhi. Gandhi has toured with acts such as M.I.A., Thievery Company, and Kehlani and even accompanied Oprah last year on her 2020 Vision tour. Known for her work as an activist as well as an artist, Gandhi uses her music and advocacy to focus on fourth-wave feminism, or the empowerment, inclusion, and representation of marginalized genders in business, politics, and culture. We loved hearing her thoughts on the role of music in culture, the power of rhythm, and her sage advice to the next generation of femme producers. Kiran began with our Foundations of Music Production course and has since graduated from our Ableton Push Master Course. su_divider top=”no” size=”1″ How old were you when you first started making …
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